21k views

Does lift equal weight in a climb?

This subject keeps coming up in the discussions and questions such as this one, which asks if lift equals weight in level flight. Good answers there, pointing out that upwards force has many sources. ...
7k views

Is excess lift or excess power needed for a climb?

As answered in this question, aircraft need excess power - not excess lift - to climb. This is plausible when the aircraft's thrust vector has a vertical component (its nose and engine points upwards),...
2k views

Airplane longitudinal control: pitch or power?

I recently came across some slides from a flight school teaching, for the initial climb after take-off and for the approach, the strategy of controlling/adjusting RoC/RoD with power Speed with ...
4k views

Where is the 'zone of reversed commands...'?

There seems to be some confusion about where the 'zone of reversed commands' really is, i.e. where a decrease of airspeed results in an increase of drag. Some references place that zone to the left ...
3k views

Are we changing the angle of attack by changing the pitch of an aircraft?

For example: if I pitch the airplane up, but also increase power and am able to maintain the same speed, then no, the AoA hasn’t changed, although it may have varied in the transition between one ...
1k views

What produces thrust along the line of flight in a glider?

After reviewing discussions and vector diagrams of gliders in flight, the vertical lift component and the vertical drag components seem to produce a steady state, 0 acceleration balance with gravity. ...
744 views

'Gravitational' power vs. engine power

A glider gets the power it needs to fly from the decrease of gravitational potential energy associated to the descent. My question is: for the same weight $W$, airspeed $V$, and a prop efficiency of ...
862 views

What is the purpose of the propeller?

The propeller generates thrust, but what is the purpose of thrust of propeller? Is it to help the aircraft move forward or to produce lift to rise up?